φθορά

Ancient Greek

Alternative forms

φθορή (phthorḗ) — Ionic

Etymology

From φθείρω (phtheírō, “ruin, destroy, destruct”) +‎ -η (-ē).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pʰtʰo.rǎː/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /pʰtʰoˈra/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ɸθoˈra/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /fθoˈra/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /fθoˈra/

Noun

φθορᾱ́ • (phthorā́) f (genitive φθορᾶς); first declension

destruction, ruin
- 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 2.161
  - Herodotus, Histories 7.18
- 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, On Regimen 1.5
- 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 406
1. (of persons) death (especially by some divine act, as pestilence)
  - 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.47
  - 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 677a
  - 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 814
2. (of animals) loss by death
  - PStrassb. 24.26
(philosophy) passing out of existence, ceasing to be
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 546a
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 95e
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Philebus 55a
- 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Physics 5.5.229b
- 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 6.6
- 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.948f
- 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Phaedo 96b
- 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 490e
- 360 BCE, Plato, Timaeus 23c
deterioration
- 371 BCE – 287 BCE, Theophrastus, On the Causes of Plants 5.8.2
1. loss by deterioration, damage
seduction
- 389 BCE – 314 BCE, Aeschines, Collected Works 1.12
- 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.712c
- 120 CE – 175 CE, Vettius Valens, Anthology 2.37
- 50BC-50AD, Parthenius, Collected Works 35.3
- 60 BCE – 7 BCE, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 2.25
1. rape
  - 64 BCE – 24 CE, Strabo, Geography 6.1.6
abortion, miscarriage
- 50 CE – 150 CE, Soranus, Collected Works 1.56
  - Soranus, Collected Works 1.59
- 129 CE – 216 CE, Galen, Collected Works 17.800
gradation of colors in painting
- 46 CE – 120 CE, Plutarch, Moralia 2.346a
  - Plutarch, Moralia 2.725c
  - Plutarch, Moralia 2.393c
wasting away
- 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates of Kos, Aphorisms 7.80
the tossings of a storm, shipwrecks
- 412 BCE, Euripides, Helen 766

Declension

First declension of ἡ φθορᾱ́; τῆς φθορᾶς (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	ἡ φθορᾱ́ hē phthorā́	τὼ φθορᾱ́ tṑ phthorā́	αἱ φθοραί hai phthoraí
Genitive	τῆς φθορᾶς tês phthorâs	τοῖν φθοραῖν toîn phthoraîn	τῶν φθορῶν tôn phthorôn
Dative	τῇ φθορᾷ tēî phthorāî	τοῖν φθοραῖν toîn phthoraîn	ταῖς φθοραῖς taîs phthoraîs
Accusative	τὴν φθορᾱ́ν tḕn phthorā́n	τὼ φθορᾱ́ tṑ phthorā́	τᾱ̀ς φθορᾱ́ς tā̀s phthorā́s
Vocative	φθορᾱ́ phthorā́	φθορᾱ́ phthorā́	φθοραί phthoraí
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Synonyms

(wasting away): φθόη (phthóē)

Descendants

Translingual: Phytophthora, Entomophthora
- English: phytophthora
Greek: φθορά (fthorá)
→ Late Latin: phthora
- Catalan: tora
- → French: phthore, phtore
  - English: phthor
→ Russian: фтор (ftor)
- → Armenian: ֆտոր (ftor)

References

“φθορά”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“φθορά”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
φθορά in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
G5356 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
- blight idem, page 83.
- corruptibility idem, page 176.
- corruption idem, page 176.
- decay idem, page 199.
- destruction idem, page 218.
- downfall idem, page 249.
- havoc idem, page 389.
- mortality idem, page 541.
- overthrow idem, page 586.
- perdition idem, page 607.
- ruin idem, page 725.
- wasting idem, page 965.
- wreck idem, page 992.

Greek

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Koine Greek φθορά (phthorá).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /fθoˈɾa/
Hyphenation: φθο‧ρά

Noun

φθορά • (fthorá) f (plural φθορές)

wear, wear and tear, abrasion, corrosion
decay, decline, deterioration

Declension

Declension of **φθορά**
	singular	plural
nominative	φθορά (fthorá)	φθορές (fthorés)
genitive	φθοράς (fthorás)	φθορών (fthorón)
accusative	φθορά (fthorá)	φθορές (fthorés)
vocative	φθορά (fthorá)	φθορές (fthorés)

Related terms

φθείρω (ftheíro)

References

^ φθορά, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language

[1] φθορά, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language

[1]